Ron DeSantis apocalyptic attack on higher education, Teacher at California high school arrested after recording devices found in restroom, days after the federal report was released. Katie Spada, 28, of the United States said that she was sometimes called a dying whale by a former coach and, at 13, was told I had boobs like Marilyn Monroe and they were getting in the way.. But one does have to wonderif NBAC, arguably the most respected swim club in the world, contacts the national organization to tell them of a former coachs actions and doesnt get a response, then what would incite Colorado Springs into action? Brisson and Team Canada performed during a qualifying tournament for the 2016 Rio Olympics. I will continue to fully cooperate with any and all investigations. "We have a system that does not encourage the reporting," said Bob Allard, a San Jose, CA lawyer representing sex abuse victims suing USA Swimming. Teresa Ixchel Alonso Garca, 24, who competed for the Mexican national team for 12 years, said that in 2019 she was hospitalized for internal bleeding related to stress from swimming, but was pressured to compete by her coach. In a series of jarring allegations from several sources, it has been discovered that a former high-level coach with close ties to the North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC)home to Michael Phelps and other Olympianswas accused of molestation and other inappropriate behavior towards some of his female swimmers while he was coaching elite athletes over a period of decades. Competitive swimming in the U.S. has been scandal-ridden in recent years, with sexual-abuse prosecutions of coaches and civil lawsuits against USA Swimming prompting widespread media coverage, including of the recent Maryland conviction of well-known coach Rick Curl, who pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse suffered by one of his swimmers 30 years ago. SJSU administrators say they were first informed of these allegations by Spartans swimming and diving coach Sage Hopkins, after students on Hopkins team reported the alleged misconduct. Founded Before joining the Mercury News, she worked for The Associated Press in Cheyenne, Detroit and Dallas. Spoons, scissors and other metal objects used as tapping devices for swimmers to hear underwater are sometimes thrown at athletes by upset coaches. He was also accused of making Islamophobic remarks like saying all Muslims are extremists and telling the swimmers they should learn how to cook and clean for their men or they would not be wanted. In some cases, the swimming coaches found to have been sexual predators were able to move from town to town, one step ahead of police and angry victims and their parents. Only then, the federal report said, did the university then under the leadership of President Mary Papazian reopen the investigation. Tuite herself was directly named in three wrongful termination and retaliation lawsuits, including one filed by Hopkins in April 2021, in which she was accused of ignoring reports of continued sexual misconduct in the athletic department and retaliating against whistleblowers, the Mercury News reported. North Baltimore Aquatic Club head coach Paul Yetter, coach of one of the best 400 IMers in history, runs the math on his rule of thumb for event potential. She is an alumna of San Jose State where she served as executive editor for the "Spartan Daily." NBAC is the literal and symbolic home of United States Swimming athletes. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); What is most concerning is the accused coach of alleged sexual abuse did not leave NBAC until 2011. It is dangerous for the media of any town or city, no matter how big or small, to be more concerned with protecting the powerful interests in their community rather than with the citizens they are supposed to serve. Baltimore police have found no record of any complaint being passed on yet. Reached for comment Wednesday, Tuite told SFGATE that she is focused on her new role. However, due to USA Swimmings commitment to Safe Sport and the safety of our swimmers, we reported the complaint and information received to the Baltimore County Police Department, Precinct 1. Asked if he had apologized to any of the young teen victims, Wielgus responded, "You feel I need to apologize to them? Rather, this is entirely about accountability and the sinister, arrogant and dangerous disregard for victims that is displayed by USA Swimming. Thank you for your message. A subsequent search of Hindson's home turned up more locker room footage and a large selection of child pornography. She wrote an award-winning six-part narrative series Hanging: the mysterious case of the boy in the barn, and narrated a companion podcast. The first investigation and its conclusion were largely kept quiet by campus leaders and Shaw continued treating female athletes unfettered as the Department of Justice put it for the next decade. That external investigation found that the allegations of Shaws sexual misconduct were substantiated according to the investigation summary. After the Canadian scandal erupted last fall, media reports emerged in Slovakia that described similar complaints there often ignored by swimming officials about Szauders coaching methods. Grimes has a best time of 15:44.89 which is #2 in the 15-16 age group and now sits at #5 all-time in the 17-18 age group. An attorney will contact you in the next 24 hours. * After reporting that a coach at NBAC had been so accused, the Baltimore Sun failed to add that Baltimore County police claimed to me to have lost a report on all this by USA Swimming. * Jill Chasson, chair of the USA Swimming National Board of Review, which hears sexual misconduct allegations, recently resigned after I reported that, as NBAC Olympic swimmer Jill Johnson, she had had an underage relationship with her coach John Cadigan, now Bowmans chief assistant. "In the course of rooting out systematic sexual abuse," Muchnick explains, "there is a possibility that, somewhere along the way, there's going to be a false positive in the allegations, but that doesn't mean to me that you just sit back." The sending of this email does not create an attorney-client relationship. He told NBC Bay Area in 2019, swim coach Sage Hopkins shared concerns about an investigation ", Chicago police officer fatally shot on Southwest Side in exchange of gunfire: officials, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown to exit CPD this month in the wake of mayoral election, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. What is the status of the complaint and investigation arising from NBAC? Actually, NBAC is the one who did everything right, not USA Swimming. Last fall, he was accused by five swimmers of making sexist remarks, weight-shaming athletes and committing other troubling behavior. WebSan Jose State Athletic Director Reassigned Amid Sexual Assault Scandal. Thankfully, people such as the DOJ, the FBI and some other investigative agencies jumped into the matter and properly looked into it, Hopkins said. Looking for a job in swimming! 2023 Swim Swam Partners, LLC. ': A magical hike's dark side, If travel planning gives you a headache, try these apps. 9, 2010 -- In a sex abuse scandal that some victims compare to what happened in the Catholic Church, at least 36 swimming coaches have been banned for life by the Olivia Zhang, 30, who formerly competed for the Chinese national team, said her coach used a metal rod to hit her knee when her leg wasnt fully extended out of the water in training, leaving a scar. We asked for clarification on this issue, but received no response. But that reluctance to speak out has begun morphing into a bold awakening. After I provided WBAL with numerous articles and appeared on air more than a dozen times, talking about the USA Swimming scandal at no financial cost to them the station abruptly removed all my stories and interviews after the first one on NBAC appeared. Indeed, as my queries into the history of past and present abuse continued, I realized that this story is perhaps too big for just one concerned journalist to investigate. USA Swimming offers free online education on the issue of Safe Sport and abuse prevention for parents of our 330,000 athlete members. For USA Swimming not to investigate such a serious charge, especially since it involved a coach associated with this most famed club, is staggeringand made even more astounding considering that NBAC acted in such swift fashion. NBAC apparently did what clubs are supposed to do: alert the authorities immediately and then inform the national governing body of the incident. USA Swimming said they had no ability to investigate a former NBAC coach for allegations of sexual abuse, because the offense happened in 1975. What's clear from court documents in the case against Muchnick is that something happened between three young NBAC swimmers at Meadowbrook Aquatic Center in February 2012. We also require teams to perform additional pre-employment screenings of new coaches. My vote is YES because unless there is a criminal record or somebody sends a report to the LSC or USA Swimming, USA Swimming will never know. All the while, the vast majority, under USA Swimming. Club LSC Points. Joyce reports that the victim reported the activities to her club in October of 2011, at which time the impeccably-managed club seems to have taken every appropriate action: they immediately relieved the coach of his duties, they reported him to the police, and they reported him to USA Swimming. She announced her resignation from SJSU altogether in an email to some staff members in the athletic department Aug. 29, 2021, but the university did not make an announcement, the Mercury News previously reported. Due to the pasage of time less than two years. Exclusive: San Jose State swim coach and, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Alameda County DAs new policy will reduce prison sentences through widespread elimination of sentencing enhancements, Exclusive: San Jose State swim coach and whistleblower speaks for first time about sex abuse scandal, San Jose firefighter claims sexual abuse, racism, swastikas drove her out, Bloomingdales: Former employee at Valley Fair mall claims she was forced to delete co-workers request for nude photos, Despite sex abuse allegations, former California high school coaches continue to work with children, young women. According to other sources with direct knowledge of this story, the police were in fact called and that USA Swimming was indeed made aware of this complaint. Yet following the conclusion of that investigation, Hopkins and other athletes continued to report incidents of sexual misconduct involving Shaw for almost a decade. Jordan Browns previous stop was at Ensworth Aquatics in Nashville, Tennessee, including the last two years as senior assistant coach. Jessica Long, a 12-time Paralympic gold medalist, is now training at Loyola University in Baltimore, Md. The coach wasnt removed by USA Swimming, he resigned his membership. Swimming is a fun, healthy activity that provides a positive, valuable life experience for its participants. "I think had they been minding the store had they been watching what's going on with their own children this opportunity never could have presented itself.". This is a mandatory report under Article 306.1 and Article 306.4 states Neither civil nor criminal statutes of limitation apply to reports of cases of sexual abuse.. * WBAL Radio last year disappeared its own series on sex abuse in swimming by my colleague Tim Joyce, after Joyce started zeroing in on allegations against Murray Stephens, founder of Michael Phelps and Bob Bowmans North Baltimore Aquatic Club. Aside from his life on the InterWet, . As to USAS, ugh. Read more , They (USA Swimming) do state, however, that they passed the complaint and information to the Baltimore County Police Department, Precinct 1.. No one at McDonogh will comment on why Stephens, who is unofficially banned from being seen on the deck at his own aquatic center, has been allowed on the deck at the McDonogh natatorium to coach his son. The gaslighting that went on, suggesting that the abused swimmers werent really abused, he said, was truly hard to watch.. After I broke the story of past sexual impropriety, involving multiple victims at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC), Irv proceeded to uncover other episodes of abuse and negligence at NBAC the countrys most famous swim club that will surely become even more disturbing as more details emerge. Hey, do you? Education | The lawsuit which seeks class-action status and financial compensation for moral damages reflects an attempt to clean up a sport seeking to change its image after coaches were accused of mistreating athletes in Spain, Mexico, the United States and other countries. The North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) is a swim club based in and around Baltimore, Maryland. The executive director of USA Swimming, Chuck Wielgus, acknowledged the problem, but said "It's "It's not nearly as serious in USA Swimming as it might be in the rest of society.". ", He added, "I think it's unfair for you to ask me whether individually or me as the representative of an organization to apologize for something when all we are trying to do is everything we possibly can to create a safe and healthy environment for kids who are participating in our particular activity. Swimmers increasingly appear less willing to subject themselves to degrading treatment from coaches, whose behavior is often described, in part, as a remnant of tactics employed in the former Eastern bloc and in China, another artistic swimming power. Anastasia Gloushkov Leventhal, 35, competed in four Olympics for Israel. That is our unwavering commitment to you. The thought of tainting Phelps name by association was perhaps more than the corporate entities cared to handle. "Congratulations," read the letter. , a California blogger whose posts on his concussioninc.net website regularly level broadsides at alleged abuses in the world of swimming, last year started honing in on what he reported was foul play at North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC), famous for training world-class swimmers like Olympic gold-medal winners Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt. As his team competed against University of Nevada, Reno at the Spartans new aquatics complex on campus, Hopkins stood in his blue ball cap and shorts and, with a stopwatch in hand, cheered them on to the finish. Although the trainer had been told to stay away from the swim team, as Hopkins had demanded, he treated some of the athletes, along with the womens golf team and others. The dossier prompted then-SJSU President Mary Papazian to initiate an external investigation into Shaws behavior and SJSUs handling of the initial probe in 2009. Marie Tuite, former San Jose State athletic director and current deputy director for external relations at Southern Utah University. It probably has a lot to do with who you are and who your friends are. Calls made to Cadigan for comment on this article were not returned. Anastasia Gloushkov Leventhal, then 19, left, with her teammate Inna Yoffe in 2004. An argument could be made that the rape and escape dodge should not work. 3 talking about this. One swimmer who spoke to the CBC, Sion Ormond, 21, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Canada Artistic Swimming. 24 April 2015, 10:00am. 2023 Corsiglia McMahon & Allard, When a Child Receives Money from a Lawsuit, Catholic | Christian School Sexual Abuse Attorneys, List of California Teachers with Revoked Credentials for Sex Crimes, Passing the Trash Allows Predators to Sexually Abuse Students, Palo Alto Unified School District Sexual Misconduct History. Really? 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